1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery pack mounting structure for an electric vehicle, and more particularly, to a battery pack mounting structure for an electric vehicle capable of increasing the number of battery modules to be mounted on a vehicle in which a battery pack accommodating the battery modules therein is arranged in a space behind a rear seat without lowering the rigidity of a rear part of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electric vehicle including a hybrid electric vehicle, a secondary battery is mounted on a vehicle and the vehicle can travel with a driving motor. The maximum traveling distance of the electric vehicle with the motor depends on a battery capacity. Therefore, in order to reduce the amount of the exhaust gas, it is preferable to increase the battery capacity of the secondary battery mounted on a vehicle as much as possible.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2008-226610
In a hybrid electric vehicle or range extended electric vehicle as related-art electric vehicles, a fuel tank for a motor and an exhaust pipe are disposed below a vehicle interior. Therefore, it is not possible to make a space below the vehicle interior for mounting a large-sized battery pack therein. Consequently, there is a problem that the battery capacity is limited. To solve this problem, the battery pack may be disposed a space behind a rear seat. However, since it is necessary to make a shock absorption space behind the battery pack, there still remains a problem that it is difficult to ensure the sufficient amount of the battery capacity. If the large-sized battery pack is mounted in the vehicle interior, it is difficult to attach and detach the battery pack to and from the vehicle, so that the maintenance capability on a market would be considerably deteriorated. If a frame of a vehicle body is partially cut out to make a space for mounting the large-sized battery pack, the rigidity of the vehicle body would be lowered.